■;\:" 















Class rS^ 
Book_-S^J^ 



^ 



SUNMYSIDC IRRIGATION CaMAL 

WASHINGTON IRRIGATION COMPANY 









I'UOI'RIETOR 










-5- 










omccRS 




President ; 
W. M. 


LADD, 






Vice-President: 

GEORGE DONALD, 


Treasurer : 
R. H. 


PORTLAND, ORE. 
DENNY. 




-f 


NORTH YAKIMA, WASH 
Secretary : 

D. P. ROBINSON, 




SEATILE, WASH. 


I.OHMAN 




SEATTLE, WASH 




THIRD EDITION 






SEATTLE: 
,t HANKOl'.D .STATIONERY ANH PRINTINU CO. '■ " ' ^ '■ '^ ■ ' ' ' ' 1 
1902. 



Ai 



5LINNV5IDI: IPI^IGATION CANAL 



CARRYING CAPACITY, 1.000 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND OF TIME. 



40.000 ACRES UNDER DITCH. 



PRICE OF LAND. INCLUDING PERPETUAL WATER RIGHT, FROM $40 TO $60 PER ACRE 



TERMS OF PAYMENT; 

ONE-FJFTH DOWN AND THE BALANCE IN FOUR ANNUAL PAYMENTS, COMMENCING WITH THE SECOND YEAR. 
INTEREST ON DEFERRED PAYMENTS AT THE RATE OF SIX PER CENT PER ANNUM. 



FOR INFORMATION ADDRESS 



WAilllMGTOri ll^l^K.ATI()\' CONPAMN' 

ZILLAH. WASH. 



bidopy of iFpi^^tion 



SOLOMON'S saying, " There is nothing new under the sun," applies to irrigation. Close study leads to the 
conclusion that irrigation is as old as husbandry. In all likelihood, man, when placed upon the 
earth, was not given a habitation in a humid climate, but in some arid section — an oasis in a desert. 
Such is the contention of scientists. As primitive man outgrew nature's fertile spots, there being no rain but 
springs and streams, he lead these from their channels to the surrounding soil, and caused it to oroduce abundant 
harvest, 

We are told that husbandry was first taught, held honorable and extensively followed in Egypt. For 
centuries this country was the granary of the world. So great was its productiveness that it not only supplied a 
dense population, but accumulated vast stores to overcome famine brought on by plague, and supplied foreign 
nations with fruit and cereals. The great fertility of the Nile valley and vicinity was not the result, as many 
suppose, of the periodical overflow of the river, covering, at the most, but a small section, but the result of man's 
ingenuity displayed in the grandest system of irrigation ever devised. 

From ancient writings recently discovered, and from recent examinations of the condition of the Nile 
above Cairo by scientists and explorers, the conclusion has bsen reached that the six cataracts from Assouan to 
near Kartoum in the river Nile were not the work of Nature, but of ancient and scientific engineering for the 
purpose of irrigation and navigation. Engineering at once bold in its conception and colossal in its execution. 
Thai it had also been most successful in its results was evident from the remains of irrigation canals still 
stretching over many degrees of longitude on both sides of the river, as well as by ancient records of flourishing 



cities where now only barren wastes are to be found, intiabited by roving tribes of Arabs. These canals or 
their ruins-are by no means confined to the valley of the Nile proper, but they reach to the very confines of the 
Great Desert. 

Gordon speaks of the ancient irrigation canals as pervading the whole Soudan, as well as what is now 
desert, on the northern sid^ of the Nile from the Mediterranean to latitude 15° north, if not further, and many 
degrees of longitude west( as well as east of the Nile valley proper. Scientists were led to the belief that the 
cataracts were not the work of Nature by the fact that they were nearly equidistant from each other 
along the course of the river. The total distance from the first cataract at Assouan to Kartoum is seven 
hundred and twenty miles, and the division of this space by six cataracts will give one hundred and twenty miles 
between each, which is almost the exact distance between any two cataracts. The fall of the river being eight 
inches to the mile gives a needed height to each dam of eighty feet, exactly: in short, the calculation which 
would now be made, primarily, by any irrigation engineer. Last, but not least, the great square granite blocks, 
composed of a formation that cannot be found in any other part of the Nile except at the cataracts or rapids, 
stretching out for over two thousand yards across the river are still visible at very low Nile. From these facts 
modern scientists and engineers have come to the conclusion that the cataracts or rapids were not the work of 
Nature, but were enormous dams constructed by man. for the purposes above described. But the proof of the 
dams having existed where the cataracts or rapids now are, does not rest simply on the inference of experts upon 
the appearance of the river. Quite recently there have been found ancient writings which speak of this fact; and 
among the various inscriptions found in one at Sikilis to the effect that the Nile watered vast regions above 
Somnah, but that the rock gave way, and that ever after the river ceased to water the region above." * 

The writings of Plato are also corroborative of the vastness of the irrigation works of the Egyptians. 
Nowhere on the face of the earth has the work of the human race defied the ravages of time as in the valley of 

• Kinney on Irrigation, Sec. 10, 




Plate 1 



Yakima River and Intake, Sunnyside Canal 



th2 Nile. Today we read inscriptions as though they were the work of yesterday and they tell us of an age 
centuries past when medicine, chemistry, mathematics, sculpture, astronomy and the mechanical arts in Egypt 
surpassed, in many respects, the skill of the present period. For boldness of conception and skill in execution, 
nothing exceeds the artificial waterways constructed by the early Egyptians. 

Fix in mind a waterway excavated to the depth of one hundred feet, six hundred and sixty feet wide and 
1250 miles long, and you will but comprehend an Egyptian enterprise built for the double purpose of watering the 
land and for floating vessels. Have in mind this vast canal encircling a plain with great ditches, cutting it 
into many parts, and then a network of smaller waterways everywhere, distributing water, to the rich and thirsty 
soil; picture here and there upon these waterways and the Nile great cities with palaces, temples and magnifi- 
cent tombs, the people arrayed in the richest of fabrics and ornamented in priceless jewels (for it should not be 
forgotten that there is scarcely an article of comfort or luxury now in use, but that its counterpart is shown in some 
of the pictures still fresh and bright, on the walls of the tombs of the ancient Egyptian kings);* add to this the 
pyramids, the great dams of the Nile, groves of stately palms and tall trees gently nodding in the lazy breezes of 
the Mediterranean coast; dot the plain with groves of citrus fruit and vineyards, (for here Bacchus had his 
mythical being and was worshipped.) and you have Egypt not in fancy, but as a reality centuries ago. 

Radiating from Egypt the science of irrigation reached the valleys of the Ganges, Indus and Euphrates, 
and here wealth accumulated and opulence held sway, and large cities flourished, rich in their homes and public 
places. Here man conceived strange designs, tall towers and hanging gardens, and rulers built them. Take 
from ancient history the people who subsisted by means of irrigation and what is there left to show stability, 
splendor and grandeur to the far-off past? True it is that man passed out of Egypt into eastern Asia, thence to 
southern Europe and ultimately overran the whole of the northland. He passed into the land of humid climate, 
and there built up a vast civilization, which now in many places continues to flourish. What is true as to 

* History of Egypt, by Clara Ersl^ine Cement. 




Plate 2 



SuNNYsiDE Canal, a Few Miles Below Intake 



irrigation of ancient Egjfpt and eastern Asia is also true of the New World. Today the archaeologists bring forth 
mummies from caves in Arizona and New Mexico. They find pottery and implements bespeaking high art. 
They trace the outlines and delve in the debris of cities now in buried ruin, where once dwelt man not rude, 
uncouth and savage, but man cultured and artistic in his tastes with science applied to his many wants. Wherever 
these traces of civilization are found whether in South, Central or North America there, too, remains positive 
evidence of irrigation carried on upon a magnificent scale. Take, for instance, the acqueduct that traverses 
Condesonyos in South America. This was of the length of five hundred miles. The historian, Prescott. states 
that canals and acqucducts were seen crossing the lowland in all directions, and spreading over the country like a 
vast network, distributing fertility and beauty all around them.'' 

" In Arizona are to be found remains of prehistoric canals, which with their laterals must have exceeded 
a thousand miles in length, and the ruins of many of them give evidence of the expenditure of vast labor in their 
construction. One of the largest of these canals took water from the south side of Salt River, about twenty-five 
miles from the-present city of Phoenix, and after leaving the river ran for several miles through a formation of 
hard volcanic rock. Thus without explosives of any kind and with the simple tools of the stone age, the aborig- 
inal constructors of the ditch excavated a canal through solid rock of the hardest formation, to a depth varying 
from twenty to thirty feet, and to a width of about twenty feet, and having a capacity of from ten thousand to fifteen 
thousand miner's inches when the river was at its ordinary stage. The evidence of the vast amount of labor 
expended in its construction by the chipping process, is plain upon the face of the rock, while for miles on both 
sides of the canal can be found vast numbers of worn out stone axes and hammers. A party of Mormons have 
succeeded in clearing away the accumulated debris and restoring the ditch to its original usefulness, and have 
thereby converted a barren waste into fertile fields, now occupied by twenty thousand people. The canal is at 
present known as the Mesa Canal, and supplies Mesa City and vicinity with water for irrigation and other pur- 
poses. Two miles east of the above-mentioned canal, but on the other side of the river, is the head of the great 
Arizona Canal, the largest in the southwest, if not on the Pacific Coast, carrying as it does nearly fifty thousand 




Plate 3 



A Lateral 



inches of water. Its construction was also suggested by the remains of a prehistoric canal that could be traced 
for many miles, and the promoter of the new enterprise, being of the firm belief that what had been done could 
be done again under like conditions, had the pleasure of seeing completed a waterway which reclaimed over one 
hundred thousand acres in and around the city of Phoenix. Forty miles west of the Arizona Canal, and a few 
miles below the junction of the Salt River with the Gila on the north bank of the latter river, is the head of 
another ditch, which from the traces of prehistoric civilization, found along its banks, is of even more interest. 
It is called the 'Acequa of the Painted Rocks,' and commences where it can take from the Gila not only the 
waters of that stream, but also the water of all the canals lying north and east of it as well. Portions of the canal 
have been reclaimed, but thoie parts which the hand of modern civilization has not touched, are still so distinct, 
that their remains may be traced without difficulty for fifty miles, while between it and the Gila river, in the lands 
which were formerly irrigated from it. can be found the relics of ancient civilization in profusion, not only in the 
shape of ruined buildings, but also of pottery, stone implements, weapons and ornaments. But another 
curious feature of this canal, and the strongest evidence of the great length of time which has elapsed since the 
system of irrigation was maintained, is that a few miles below the point where it crosses the Hassayamba creek, 
it traverses a mesa or bench for several miles, from which it falls abruptly into a valley some forty or fifty feet. 
Where this fall takes place the waters of the canal have cut away for several feet the walls of the mesa, 
which are of the hardest volcanic character. As every evidence indicates that the erosion of the rock has been 
accomplished by the action of ths water alone, centuries must have been required for the work. Upon the face 
of the rock thus cut away are to be found hieroglyphics of every description, of the meaning of which the present 
aborigines know nothing. From these inscriptions the white man has given them the name of 'Painted Rocks ' "* 

All this teaches the lesson that in the higher civilization of olden times, irrigation was the handmaid of 
the husbandman. To it he owed his prosperity. To it a teeming population looked for subsistance. From it 

* Kinney on Irrigation, Sec. 15. 



•-t 




I'LATE i 



Furrow System of Irrigation 



Kings, Monarchs and Pharaohs received revenues to carry on worlds of an and public utility, which are still 
stupendous in their ruins. These great irrigation systems, nnarvelous in their parts, built in instances with quar- 
ried stone and in others hewn from the solid rock, make vivid the thought that where nature does the most man 
does the least; and where he firmly grasps and supplements what nature has suggested, this becomes the theater 
of his greatest action and gives him godlike glory. 



/Aoclei^n Ippi^atioti Jy<^tem 



WE have spoken of the ancient works of irrigation. What does the present show? Famine stricken India 
comes to mind. There, in the last thirty years, at a cost of three hundred and sixty millions of dollars, 
thirty-five million acres of land have been reclaimed from the desert waste, and, this to a large extent, 
lies under the very shadow of the Himalaya mountains, far from the sea coast. From the ocean to these artificial 
oases great lines of railroads have been constructed and now carry a vast commerce. By this means not less 
than 50,000,000 people are free from the horrors of famine. These great enterprises redounding to the glory of 
Britain have not proven financial failures, but return to the British India government, by which they were con- 
structed, an annual revenue of eighteen per cent. 

Even in the great Sahara Desert, under the skill and enterprise of the Frenchman, lying as it does below 
the surface of the ocean, by means of artesian wells the hot sands are given place to cultivated fields and 
green trees. 

In Australasia, the government and the people have, for a number of years past, realized that the water- 
less plains, which stretch for leagues and are covered with a soil containing all substances which enter into a 
vegetable formation, could only be made productive by irrigation, have expended vast sums of money in the 
construction of waterways, and since 1881 have turned 15,000,000 acres of desert into beautiful farms. Italy, 







PtATE 5 



An Irrigated Field, Sunnyside Canal 



Spain and France have for centuries appreciated the value of artificially watering land, n these -untr-es the 
Li productive portions are where irrigation is practiced. There the greatest popula Uon dwells. T ke 
fT nsance, irrigated Murcia, Spain: it has a population of .68. to the square n.i.e. ^h-le the prov, ce 
Orihuela. where the people depend upon rain for the growing of ^P^'^^ °" ^^ ^^^^ ^^/.J^'^,, %7 
own country, where in 1847 existed a stretch of sagebrush, today stands the beaut.ful cty o Salt Lake, sur- 
ounded by orchards, meadows and harvest fields. This is the result of the foresig t of the Mormons^ and the 
spreading out by them, of the streams and rivers upon a parched soil. Montana, Idaho Wyom.ng, Colorado 
Nw Mexico,' Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, Arizona, have and are rapidly bringing into cuh.vat.on, by means 
^rLon large sections. In 1889, according to the census bulletin of the United States government, ere 
Te in the United States under irrigation 3,631,38. acres of land. In .891, per estimate of the agricultural 
department, the number of acres under ditch was upwards of 18,000,000. , ^ ,, • Th. 

What is possible to be accomplished by means of irrigation is best shown in the State of Cahforma. Th 
friars and monks, who long before the discovery of gold, settled in California, took wUh them from S a, and 
Mex CO a knowledge or irrigation. This they made use of, and near the missions and monaster.es estabhshed 
by em they watered the land by streams from the mountains and brought into a high state of —on 
hmited'mcts upon which they grew grapes, lemons, oranges and all fruits of a semi-trop.cal country. Wh n 
Lt wa d scovered thousands rushed to the State of the ■• Setting Sun,- and when the argonautic sp.r.t a ated the 
ssi^mie horticulture presented themselves and many turned their attention to fruit cu tare. How to handle 
water thTm^^^^ mining he became master of this element. At once he brought ,t 

To fmTe gulches to the land and planted vineyards and groves of oranges, limes, olives, lemons, almonds 
an wa lut' he laid out lanes of eucalyptus, palm and pepper trees; he planted gardens of fgs^guvas^ 
oome.ranate and the smaller fruits; he transformed the desert into an Eden and lured to .t the r,ch of the 
EaTt andtey in settling there, built beautiful homes with magnificent drives grander than those of sunny Spam, 
or still more charming Italy. 




A New Section Under Irrigation, Near Zillah 



^be J)iffepenl: J^'^tem*^ of Ippi^g^tion 

—INHERE are practically but two modes of irrigation. The first is called the furrow system— the other the 
I flooding By the former either a rolling or flat country can be watered, by the latter only comparatively 
I level land can be served. By means of furrows, hills sloping at an angle of 30° have been successfully 
watered To prepare the ground for the furrow system all brush and large stones should be removed, small 
knolls and hummocks cut down, the low places filled and the ground brought to a level or even slope. To the 
highest point of the land to be irrigated a lateral is run from the main ditch or canal. From this lateral a head 
ditch is constructed, following the highest contour of the land. From the head ditch, receiving its water from 
the lateral small furrows are run with an implement resembling the corn marker of the New England farmer. 
These furrows on level tracts are run in straight and parallel lines. Where a sidehill is to be watered, the fur- 
rows are run practically parallel and upon contours. From the head ditch the water is let into the furrows by 
means of square wooden pipes constructed out of lath, and with such openings as to carry in the neighborhood of 
one square inch of water without pressure. This inch of water will follow a furrow and oftentimes successfully 
irrigate a stretch half a mile long by three feet wide, or over one-third of an acre. 

To irrigate by flooding, the land must be leveled and divided into squares with banks six inches or there- 
abouts in height with ditches leading into and connecting the squares. Into these squares water is let and 
allowed to stand until the soil becomes thoroughly saturated; the surplus water of the higher tiers being allowed 
to pass into the lower tiers. This system can be used where the soil is extremely light and sandy, and not subject 
to baking and forming a crust through which vegetation will not grow. The flooding system has a tendency to 



7 




Plate ' 



Section One — Orchard cf P. J. Flint. Parker Bottom 



cause the roots of plants and trees to grow upward toward the surface, while by the furrow system the water 
being let deeper into the ground all roots grow downward, and for a longer period are supplied with moisture 
from the surrounding earth, 

^jlvanta^ei^ of Ippi^ation 

ONE of the characteristics of all arid sections is almost perpetual sunshine. To this can be added a 
remarkable fact that the soil in most arid sections is remarkably productive when supplied with water. 
Only lighter soils — those which will allow water to freely percolate — can be successfully irrigated. In an 
irrigated section each farmer is his own rain maker. In the vernacular of an irrigated country, he turns the 
rain on. Under irrigation there is a certainty of crop. There being no rain, harvest time is extended, as well 
as the period for plowing and harrowing. The soil being lighter, it is easier tilled. Sunshine being almost perpetual, 
and no rain, barns for storing grain and hay are not a necessity. The water that irrigates enriches the soil, 
carrying from the mountains, hills and swamps, during the flooding period, large quantities of the richest fertil- 
izers, which are distributed by means of the canal, laterals and furrows, over the fields of the farmer. 



V^\ue of Ippi^ated Lfanslc 



ACCORDING to the United Stales census of 1890, the total number of acres of irrigated land in the United 
States in 1889, scarcely exceeded three million acres, of which over a million acres were in California, 
and 890,000 acres were in Colorado. The total value of the irrigated lands was $296,850,000.00, an 
average of $83.28 per acre. The average value of irrigated land in Caiifornis being $150.00 per acre and 
$84.25 in Utah. The whole cost of the irrigated land was $77,490,000, leaving a net profit to the farmer and 




Plate 8 



Section Two— Orchard of P. J. Flint, Parker Bottom 



ditch ov/ner of $219,370,000. The average cost of a water right in California was $39.28 per acre, while 
there were fruit growing districts in that state where a water right had cost as high as $500.00 per acre. This 
great cost being the result of an extensive system of underground pipes overcoming all loss of seepage and 
greatly economizing the use of water.* 



Co^t of br^iiJatiloR 



|~'HE average cost of yearly rental or maintenance tax per acre in the State of California is $1.60. In 
Colorado it is claimed that one man can irrigate 25 acres of grain per day. Twelve acres per day, how- 
ever, may be taken as a.fair average. The cost of labor at $1.50 per day, irrigating four times a year, 

would be 50 cents per acre. A crop of wheat, or alfalfa, should not be watered to exceed three or four times, 

and fruit trees from three to five times a season, according to the soil. 

In California the duty of water is great, running from 200 to 500 acres to one second foot. In the United 

States the duty of water is far less than in India, where the greatest economy is practiced. 

ABOUT one-third of the United States proper needs irrigation. The sub-humid portion of our country 
includes practically the whole of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and the Territory 
of Oklahoma. The arid states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana. New Mexico, Oregon. 
Utah, Washington and Wyoming. From this great belt should be taken the country that lies between the coast 
range of mountains and the Pacific Ocean, and extending from British Columbia south to Santa Barbara, Cal- 

* Encyclopasdia Britannica, New American Supp. Title, Irrigation. 



f 




Plate 9 



Section Three— Oechard of P. J. Flint, Parker Bottom 



ifornia; and east of this range of mountains some of the table lands, including a number of the river valleys 
— notably the Snake and the Columbia — lying in the southeast portion of Washington and the northeast portion 
of Oregon, and extending eastward to the Blue Mountains, where sufficient rain falls for the production of 
vegetation. 

/Nlece^f^ity oF+lcJ^kaiQdPY 'f^ tl^e J)ev'elo[®mer2h of ht^® Gpeah yNoptt2We<^t: 

THE Orient has been the objective point of the civilized and commercial nations from the days of Columbus 
to the present hour. That the spirit that moved nations to control the commerce of that section of the 
earth, where the greatest population dwells, has not waned, is made apparent by what at the present time 
is taking place in India, China, the Philippines and other islands of the Pacific Ocean. Europe for centuries has 
striven to establish short lines for commerce to the Orient. England, directed by French skill, built and now 
owns, the Suez canal. 

On the continent of North America, leading westward, private corporations, some with and others without 
governmental aid, have constructed transcontinental railroads. Upon the completion of these arteries of com- 
merce, several large steamship lines have been established between San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle. 
Vancouver and the centers of population of the eastern world, and between these points already the volume of 
commerce is increasing by so large a per cent, as almost to stagger the imagination as to what the future has 
in store. 

Already, to meet this growing trade, so absolutely in its infancy, vessels are being constructed which will 
carry 20.000 tons of merchandise each.* The Orient, not to be outdone by the Occident, has established one 
of the greatest lines of vessels on the Pacific; and one of the most common sights to be seen in the sea- 

* Review of Reviews for June, 1900. 



10 




4^ . - ^'*to ' . ~.- 



Blackberries and Prune Orchard. Fruit Farm of R. D. Herod 



board cities of the Pacific are large freighters owned and operated by the Japanese, and each year they are adding 
larger and more costly vessels to their fleets. That the United States has entered upon an era of great com- 
mercial development is shown by statistics, and is upon every tongue. t 

The Pacific trade cf the United States has advanced two-thirds in volume during the past five calendar 
years. American imports of the products of Asia and Oceanica have increased 40 per cent, since 1894, while 
American exports to the markets of Asia and Oceanica liave grown 135 per cent., or multipled nearly two and 
one-half times. 

We are taking $48,000,000 of goods a year to the East Indies, as compared with $25,000,000 in 1894. 
We are taking $16,000,000 of sugar a year from the Hawaiian islands, as compared with $8,000,000 in 1895. 
Our annual tea bill with China and Japan now runs to near 100.000,000 pounds, and our silk bill with these 
countries reaches $25,000,000 a year, comprising nearly all of our imports of unmanufactured silk. 

We are shipping $18,000,000 of American products to japan, where we sold only $3,300,000 in 1392, 
and over $12,000,000 to China, where we shipped $4,800,000 in 1893. Our exports to Hawaii have risen from 
less than $3,000,000, in 1893, to nearly $7,000,000 now, and our shipments of American wares to Australasia, 
have grown in that time from $7,500,000 to $17,500,000 a year. Our Pacific exports of flour have risen in a 
few years from practically nothing to 2,500.000 barrels, and our sales of cotton goods to the Orient have grown 
from $4,000,000, in 1894, to $15,000,000. 

There is scarcely a market, foreign or domestic, but that handles our manufactured products — our flour, cot- 
ton, beef, fish, iron and steel. Our manufactured products go to the people of all countries. The Great 
Northwest is closer by over three thousand miles to the Orient than France, Germany or England, by way of the 
Suez Canal: and the time of travel between New York City and Japan, by rail and water, is several days shorter 
than between Liverpool and the Japanese Empire. 

I Seattle and the Orient, by Alden J. Blethen, page 85. Minneapolis Times, Northwest-Orient Edition. 
Note — Since the above was written United States commerce with the Orient has increased over 40 per cent. 



n 




Plate U 



Peach Tree, Becknell Fruit Farm. Parker Bottom 



Into the lap of the Northwest, Alaska is pouring a golden store, in the waters of ths Pacific, iis sounds, 
bays and gulfs, and Bering Sea, the supply of food fishes is inexhaustible. Already the salmon industry of Wash- 
ington, Oregon, British Colunnbia and Alaska runs annually into many millions of. dollars, and the governmental 
reports show Bering Sea to be as rich in cod as are the banks of Newfoundland. Add to this the coal, iron, 
copper, timber and the precious metals so lavishly placed at man's disposal in the states, provinces and territories 
of the North Pacific, and nothing can stay the spirit of enterprise that now possesses the handful of people who 
dwell in this section. For years to come this will be the theater of man's greatest activity in the establish- 
ment of trade, commerce and manufacturing. 

The per cent, of growth of the Pacific Coast states is convincing proof that before another century rolls 
round, here will be found cities balancing in importance the great entrepots of the Atlantic. This population will 
have to be fed. To supply its wants, cereals, hay, live stock, garden vegetables and fruit in great quantities will 
be demanded. In the west, as has already been shown, the amount of land fit for agricultural purposes, is lim- 
ited. That it will be taxed to its utmost is certain. That it will increase in value as the population increases, 
is but logic. 



Iprsi-JatioiQ iiQ Wa^l^io'^tor^ 



THE Cascade Mountains divide the state into two sections, which differ as much in climatic conditions as 
in topographical aspects. They extend through the state from north to south, at an average elevation of 
about 8000 feet, and with numerous peaks rising to nearly twice that height. These mountains are 
paralleled by other ranges upon the eastern and western borders of the state. Generally speaking, it may be said 
they stand at an angle of about 45 degrees to the direction of the prevailing winds, thus forming almost a perfect 
rain barrier. 

In Eastern Washington the Columbia River basin slopes to the south, with numerous streams, shallow 
lakes, a sandy soil, high mountains, bordering on either side, and broken ridges lying to the north; it is well pro- 



1% 




I'l.ATK 12 



Apple Tree, Becknell Fruit Farm, Parker Bottom 



tected from outside influences, admirably arranged, and suitably inclined to receive the solar heat, and to have a 
moderately equable climate. The figures of the whole of the Columbia River basin, deduced from official 
reports from fourteen stations, well distributed over the basin, show an average annual temperature of 48.25 
degrees. The prevailing winds of the Yakima valley are from the Cascade Mountains. They are productive of 
clear, dry weather, so characteristic of the Yakima country in particular, and the eastern slope of the Cascades 
in general. The winds blowing from the mountains clear the sky and bring about fair weather. The average 
rainfall of the Yakima valley is seven inches. The serenity of the sky is remarkable. At Sunnyside there are 
188 clear days, 83 partly cloudy, 94 cloudy, and only 33 rainy. The soil of the Yakima valley is mostly of a 
loose volcanic ash, which receives a large quantity of heat and moisture readily, and retains it for a compar- 
atively long time. 

From the first of June to the first of November, scarcely any rain falls, and a thunder storm is a rarity.* 
The aridness of the Great Bend of the Columbia, including the valley of the Yakima and other rivers, 
makes irrigation absolutely essential, and for years, upon a small scale, in various parts of this section, irriga- 
tion has been practiced. 

'^\l^ (unny^\Ae Ippi^atioii Canal 

IN 1889, irrigation upon a large scale was first contemplated, and took practical form in the Yakima valley 
Then it was that Walter N. Granger and associates, after carefully examining all the arid land along the line 
of the Northern Pacific railroad, reached the conclusion that no section presented greater advantages 
toward a complete irrigation system than the valley of the Yakima. Here they found a river fed by the perpetual 
snows, streams and lakes of the Cascade Mountains, which at the lowest stage of its water, flowed an abundant 

*W. N. Allen, in Northwest Journal of Education. 

/3> 




Plate 13 



Orchard Scene, Fruit Farm of Mr. Baker. Parker Bottom 



supply of water. They found a soil averaging some 30 feet in depth, and of a richness scarcely to be met with 
elsewhere in any arid section. They found a country diversified as to surface; portions of it rolling, and other 
parts with gentle slopes. The climate was equable: no excessive heat in summer, nor extreme cold in winter, 
and a nominal rainfall. Here, too, they found a small ditch, which some fifteen years prior a few farmers had 
constructed, and beneath it they had built beautiful homes, and had in bearing fine orchards, from which each 
year they were reaping rich harvests. This ditch left the Yakima river just below a gap where the river pinches 
itself between two high hills. Nature seemed to have designed it as a place for an intake of a great canal. 
At once an agreement was made with the farmers by which their ditch, known as the Konnewock. was to be 
owned by a new company, and enlarged and extended, so as to carry 1000 cubic feet of water per second of 
time, and serve 68.000.000 acres of land. 

In 1890 work was commenced and continued, until the main canal was constructed to nearly the forty- 
second mile post, Laterals were constructed and land sales made. !n 1892 water was first used by the new 
settlers from the main canal. In 1893 the great panic stagnated everything. Work was stopped, and the 
settlers lived the best they could. They had before them what the farmers had accomplished under the Konne- 
wock ditch, and they did not lose faith. They cleared their land of the sage brush; they leveled it; they placed 
water upon it; they planted fields of alfalfa, clover, timothy, corn and potatoes; they set out orchards of peaches, 
prunes, pears, apricots, cherries and apples. Everything they planted grew; nature seemed to prosper their 
efforts By degrees others came into the country. They were induced to come by reason of the letters sent 
them by the first settlers; they. too. prospered. To a large extent the letters of these people will be allowed to 
tell the story of the Sunnyside Canal; what has already been accomplished and what its future is. and corre- 
spondence with them is invited. 

Already, under the Sunnyside Canal, between 4.000 and 5.000 people dwell, and 20,000 acres of land are 
under cultivation ; it has passed out of the experimental stage. The fact has been established that in no country 



IH 




Plate IJ 



Vineyard and Peach Orchard, Near Zillah 



can a large ditch be more easily constructed or maintained. The amount of water appropriated is 1000 cubic 
feet per second of time. That potatoes, corn, alfalfa, clover and timothy can be grown in this section is made 
manifest by the many letters which are hereto appended. That this is an ideal country for horticulture is well 
known by the many settlers on the land, and the fruit merchants of Puget Sound cities, Butte, Helena, Winnipeg, 
Minneapolis. St. Paul, Duluth, Chicago, Milwaukee, and many other eastern cities, for from this section already 
large quantities of fruit have been shipped to these points. A glance at the map of the west v/ill show that the 
valley of the Yakima is most fortunately situated for both farming and horticulture. Throughout its whole length 
runs the great Northern Pacific railway, and from Portland, Oregon, another railroad is projected, and the same 
is partially constructed while the navigable Columbia River is close at hand. For miles on both sides of the 
Yakima River, stretches the foothills of the Cascades. Here, yearly, large flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and 
bands of horses range. These, during the winter, must be fed, the cattle and sheep fattened for market. For 
the last few years large numbers of them have been fed by the farmers of the Sunnyside country. In this way, 
alfalfa has been disposed of at $4.50 per ton in the stack. When one realizes that an acre of Sunnyside land 
produces eight tons of alfalfa, here is a profit per acre quite amazing to the farmer of New England, or even the 
central west 

There is no danger of an overproduction of hay in the Yakima valley. There is scarcely a year when 
any hay is left over in this section. The cities of Puget Sound, the logging camps of the great wooded belt west 
cf the Cascade Mountains, and of late. Alaska, the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, are great hay consumers. 

It is, however, in the growing of fruit that the rich lands of the Sunnyside section can be best utilized. 
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and a greater portion of Montana, Idaho, Iowa and Nebraska, 
are not suited to the growing of fruit. Neither can fruit be profitably raised in British North America or Alaska. 
In this vast section a large and increasing population dwells, and the amount of green, canned and dried fruit 
consumed by the people of this belt is enormous. Noihing is more common than fruit shipped in carload lots 



/3 




Plate 15 



Four-Year-Old Prune Trees. The Kline Fruit Co., Sunnyside 



from the Yakima valley; and the day is near at hand when it will be moved in train loads. This is a consumma- 
tion wished by the Northern Pacific Railway Company. That that railway company is in accord v/ith the Sunny- 
side on the line of horticulture, we will quote President Mellen as follows: "Not a bushel of fruit will rot in the 
Yakima valley by reason of an excessive freight rate." As evidence that fruit does not rot in the Sunnyside 
country, over two years ago two large fruit evaporators were erected, but so great has been the demand for the 
green products, that these dryers have scarcely been operated, (n) 

eDr^iee of I^ansl ansl ©epmc of J)gvyment 

THE amount of land owned by the Washington Irrigation Company is in the neighborhood of 19,000 acres, 
and it is being sold in tracts of 20 acres or more, the company encouraging small holdings. The price 
of land ranges from $40 to $50 per acre, according to quality, and the ease in which the same can be 
put under cultivation. The terms of payment are one-fifth down and the balance in four annual payments, 
nothing being demanded at the end of the first year, except interest. Deferred payments draw interest at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum. A deduction of $2.50 per acre is made for cash. An annual maintenance 
charge of $1 per acre is made. This is less by 60 cents per acre than the average maintenance charge for irri- 
gation purposes throughout the State of California, With each 160 acres of land there is sold a cubic foot of 
water per second of time. This is in excess of what is necessary for the perfect irrigation of so small a tract, 
but as there is an abundance of water, the farmers are given the advantage of it. 

The irrigation season extends from the first of April to the first of November in each year. This gives 
the sap in the trees a chance to go down in the winter season, and the trees thereby escape all danger from frost 
and cold. 



Note —In 1891 the State of Wasliington shipped 5000 cars of fruit of the value of $450.00 per car, realizing the 
sum of $2,250,000.00. 



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Plate 16 



Apple Trees, Six Years Old, Orchard of W. J. Jordan, Zillah 



CldVacha^e'^ of PapmiiQ^ aDsl 4^aViQ^ a +lome '\n hl^e ^unny^Ue 

As has already been stated, there are only 33 rainy days in a year in this section. It comes as near being 
perpetual sunshine as can be wished. Only during a few weeks in the winter is the soil so frozen that it 
cannot be ploughed. The soil is light, and easily turned by the ploughshare, and one harrowing thor- 
oughly pulverizes it. A roller, however, is sometimes used to pack it. 

The harvest season extends from early June to November. During this period scarcely any rain falls. A 
farmer does not hesitate to cut down a large field of alfalfa — cure, windnw, cock, and then stack it. This can 
be done with impunity, as there is no fear of a shower ruining his crop. The rancher's crop is entirely under 
his control. He has no drouth, nor too much rain to contend with. Neither are there any cyclones to destroy 
his crops, orchards and buildings. He has pure air to breathe, and no malignant diseases to contend with. 
During the whole irrigation season he has an ample supply of water for his stock, fowls, and domestic purposes. 
He can have flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle and horses ranging back upon the foothills of the mountains 
and table lands during the spring, summer and autumn — in the winter to be brought home, to be fed and fattened 
for the market. Not to exceed 100 miles from his dwelling place, a high grade of coal is mined, and this can 
be put in his bin for winter use at not to exceed $3 50 per ton. There being no long period of cold weather, his 
fuel bill is light; and, on the other hand, his children and family need not wear the heavy clothing of the New 
England States, nor of the middle west. Here, too, his children can receive a common school education, quite 
as good as that furnished by the State of Massachusetts, for the Washington farmer takes pride in the 
district school. Already, under the Sunnyside, 12 districts are established, and school maintained therein. 
Neither are the people lacking in moral or religious influences. The Episcopalians have two churches, one at Zillah 
and the other at Sunnyside, The Presbyterians have a house of worship in Parker Bottom; the Christians have 
one at Zillah. The Dunkards have built a commodious place of worship at Sunnyside and the Federated church 
at the latter place is the largest religious edifice in Yakima County. 



^?- 



/^ 




Plate 17 



Apples Galore 




■^uiDoiMn ApPT P<: 



Seventy-five per cent of the people of this section are of American birth, and law and order areas strictly 
maintained here as in the central portion of New York State. In fact, among the 4000 or more people who 
dwell here, there are no saloons, and there are no hotels in which liquor is sold. The Odd Fellows and Woodmen 
of the World have halls of their own. and other secret orders are maintained. At Sunnyside there is a brass 
band, and the national game is quite as much enjoyed by the youth of this section as elsewhere. A private 
telephone system of 40 subscribers is maintained by a number of the farmers, and the long distance system of the 
Postal Telegraph Company has four stations in the Sunnyside section 

Four fine bridges span the Yakima River, and connect the Sunnyside section with the railroad stations of 
the Northern Pacific Railway. Numerous highways are built and maintained. Already the little town of 
Sunnyside has a bank and a live newspaper called "The Sunnyside Sun." On these pages are shown half-tones 
and photographs of actual scenes, with one exception, under the Sunnysi;'e Irrigation Canal. 

To all this might be added scenic beauty. Far below the land watered by the Sunnyside Canal, flows the 
Yakima River, with its waters during a greater portion of the season as clear as crystal, and across and beyond 
are the mountains from which rise Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, towering heavenward — the latter to a height 
of 14,444 feet. These mountains and peaks are. at their tops, perpetually snowclad; and in them are forests 
and streams abounding in game and fish. These pleasure grounds can be reached by a short journey on 
horseback. 

Intensive v^. Exten^^ive F^^pmin^ 

As has already been stated, the Washington Irrigation Company does not encourage large farms. A man 
is as well off with 10 acres under the Sunnyside as he is with 40 acres in the State of New York. Forty 
acres is all one man ought to possess. In this way, instead of distributing his efforts broadcast upon a 
wide area, he concentrates them upon a small farm, and makes every rod of ground do its best. The long season, 
with its early spring and late fall, makes it possible for the Yakima farmer to devote his attention to the raising 



If- 



■■uo 




Plate 19 



Company Headquarters at Zillah 







P 


,p»^ 




4 



Plate 20 



Wintering Sheep on Alfalfa 



of a variety of crops, selecting those which experience teaches to be the most profitable. This is I'.nown a? 
diversified farming. A division of the Sunnyside district into small farms, insures, ultimately, a dense popula- 
tion. The district will become suburban in its character, and therefore most eligible for a home. The possibilities 
for improvement of social conditions in such communities are practically unlimited. 

Co^t of ppepapin^ hs^pA foF Cultivation 

THE cost, per acre, to clear, grade, and place water upon land in the Sunnyside, is $12.50. This places 
the land in condition for cropping. The Sunnyside section is covered with a dense growth of sagebrush; 
this can be readily removed with a mattock, a good worker being able to grub an acre per day. The 
sagebrush can be used for summer fuel, burned in heaps, or placed upon the highway, making an excellent road. 
After the removal of the sagebrush, the land is ploughed, and the high knolls are cut down either with an ordi- 
nary scraper or with a so called buck scraper, to which four horses are hitched. The buck scraper is a useful 
invention for the leveling of ground for the purpose of irrigation, and small knolls or hummocks are cut down by 
means of a scraper resembling that used for scraping highways in the eastern states — a leveler is also used. This 
consists of six long timbers, with cross pieces, which catch the higher portions and carry them into the low places. 



^Dildin^ rDatepial 



T 



HE proximity of Yakima County to the great timber belt of Western Washington, makes all building 
material much cheaper than in almost any other part of the United States. 



u 




Plate 21 



CiaUNNY^IDh noRbKS 



"tlow to Reacl7 [Ije (unny^\(^e 

THE Northern Pacific Railway Company runs two daily trains, equipped with Pullman and Tourist sleepers, 
each way over its line. These pass through Toppenish and Mabton. Land seekers are met at Toppen- 
ish and taken to Zillah, four miles distant, where the company has its office, and are then shown the 
lands of the Sunnyside district, Mabtown is opposite the town of Sunnyside, and seven miles distant. A good 
road and a bridge across the Yakima River, connect these two places. 

^oupce^ of Infopmation 

THE Washington Irrigation Company earnestly requests all homeseekers to write to the settlers under the 
Sunnyside ditch, or if unable to do this, to v^rite to C. W. Mott, General Emigration Agent, Northern 
Pacific Railway Company, St. Paul. Minnesota; Thomas Cooper, Western Land Agent, Northern Pacific 
Railway Company, Tacoma, Washington: H. B, Scudder, North Yakima, Washington: Denny-Blaine Land 
Company, Seattle, Washington: or the Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Washington. 



7-^ 




Plate 22 



Alfalfa-Fed Cattle at Sunnyside 



What Others IIavk to Sav 

In the preparation of this little book, which, it is hoped, may be read by many a home seeker, we have 
called upon the people of the Sunnyside to bear witness, and give evidence of the productiveness of their farms, 
and make statements concerning the country in which they have settled, and these we append without comment. 

Sunnyside, Wash., Sept. 17, 1897. 
Gentlemen : 

Washington's fine fruit exhibit at the World's Fair brought me to this State. Her fruit exhibit, in my opinion, was the 
finest exhibit there in point of appearance and size. I was in charge of the Michigan horticultural exhibit at Chicago, and was 
appointed on a committee with Professor Fowler, of New York, and Mr. Strong, of Canada, to gather fruit from various state 
exhibits, for purposes of comparison. In this way I had every opportunity of viewing all the fruit shown at Chicago. After seeing 
and handling the Washington fruit, 1 decided to come to this State and raise some of it myself, though 1 had retired from actual fruit 
growing in Michigan. Three years ago my wife and 1 moved here and bought ten acres, which I have set out to apples, pears, 
peaches, prunes and grapes. Next year my trees will begin bearing. I am sixty-seven years old, and think that these ten acres 
will give me all that I can do. I would advise the ordinary settler to take twenty acres of land, which gives enough to keep some 
hogs and cattle. I have made a study of fruit growing for more than forty years, and do not hesitate to say that the Sunnyside 
valley will be one of the great fruit growing countries of the world. 

In Michigan I was vice-president of the State Horticultural Association: president for five years of the West Michigan 
Fruit Growers' Association, having its headquarters at Grand Rapids: and president for many years of the South Haven and Casco 



%^ 




Plate 23 



Spring Brook, near Zillah 
Farm Buildings of Capt. Dunn 



Rose Bush 
Mowing Alfalfa 



Pomological- Society, with headquarters at South Haven. 65 miles across the lake from Chicago. I lived at South Haven for 
thirty yeari. 

I have studied fruit conditions in Yakima County for three years, and was judge of fruit at the State Fair at North 
Yakima, two years ago. Regarding the kinds of fruit best adapted for this valley, 1 would say: It is admitted that in the markets 
of the world red winter apples sell for the highest price. Of these varieties, I would plant the Esophus Spitzenberg, Jonathan, 
Baldwin, Ben Davis and Northern Spy. The Wealthy, a native of Minnesota, is a fine red apple, and worthy of a place in every 
orchard. The Stark and Red Canada are good apples, and will keep until spring. For summer and fall use. the Red Astrachan 
and Yellow Transparents, and Summer Pippin. For late fall, the Gravenstein, a German apple, and Norton's Melon, one of the 
best apples for the table. The Rome Beauty is a good apple. 

Of peaches. Early Charlotte, Hale's Early and Late Crawford, Elberta, Susquehanna andSalway, are among the varieties 
mostly cultivated for market. Other deserving varieties include Hill's Chile, Reeves' Favorite, Mixon and the Smock Freestone. 

Of 1000 ormore varieties of pears, the Bartlett is first in the estimation of our people, and for canning is without an equal. For 
market purposes, orchardists would do well to plant a portion of Clapp's Favorite. The fruit is of fairly good flavor, large, and 
richly colored. The d'Anjou is a fine pear of French origin, and grows several degrees larger, and is of richer flavor in this state 
than in its native country. It does well in this country, but is weak in its fertilizing properties, and on this account should be 
planted in rows alternating with Seckel or Howell. The Howel is a la>-ge pear of good quality. The Seckel stands first in qual- 
ity, but is scarcely of medium size. In this country, however, fruit grows to nearly double the size it usually attains in the East. 
This pear commands a high price in the market. For winter markets, the Estee Beaurre, and Winter Nellis are considered 
the best. 

Washington is justly celebrated for the size, beauty and flavor of her prunes and plums. The varieties of prunes chiefly 
cultivated are Hungarian, Italian, French and Silver. Of plums, the Green Gage stands first in quality. Other plums which do 
well here, include the Bradshaw, Coe's Golden, the Yellow Egg, and Riene Clande da Bavay. 



goil j^ll ^t^at Cao ge J)e^ipesl 



The three principal natural agents for the production of fine fruit are soil, sunshine and water. The soil of the Yakima 
country is all that can be desired— rich in all the elements necessary for the formation of a vigorous growth of timber; and, 
without a strong, healthy growth of timber, we cannot expect to gather first class fruit. The soil of this country is not only rich 



Z^ 




Curing Alfalfa. Farm of W. H. Cline, Sunnyside 



on Us surface, but downward to a depth of thirty, or even forty feet, in many places. This fact proves that our soil is almost 
inexhaustible in its nature. The writer saw trees growing in this country six, seven, and eight years ago, heavily laden with 
fruit, and the same season they made from 15 to 24 inches of timber. This, alone, goes a long way to prove the stimulating 
properties of our soil. 

In Michigan, trees of the same age, having a less quantity of fruit, would make little or no timber. It is well understood 
by practical fruit growers that a growth of from 4 to 6 inches on the apple tree, annually, is necessary for the health of the tree, 
and for the assurance of a fair crop. Now, when we find that trees, whether apple, peach, pear or prune, grown in this country, 
will bear, as they do, nearly double the quantity of superior fruit they do in the Eastern States, and make at the same time treble 
the growth of timber, we are forced to attribute these effects to some cause or causes. Soil is the principal cause, for, without 
good soil, sunshine and water will not bring forth such effects. From observations since I came to live in Yakima valley, I am 
led to believe that fruit can be grown profitably for 40 per cent. less than can be done in Michigan or Illinois. Sunshine is neces- 
sary for the production of fine flowers and fine colored fruit. In California the sunshine is too intense during the day, and the 
heat too strong during the night, to admit of long-keeping, crisp apples, or the finest flavored peaches. The apples of that state 
grow large, as do the peaches, but will not, in my opinion, compare in flavor with apples or peaches grown in this state, Mich- 
gan or New Jersey. 

In Yakima County there is almost continual sunshine, from April 1 to November 1 , while the heat ranges from 75 
to 85 degrees above, with a few days when the mercury rises to 95 and 100 degrees. This degree of heat is just about 
right, with cool nights, to impart a rich color and fine flavor to fruit. At the World's Fair, at Chicago, in 1893, it was generally 
conceded that the fruit from Washington, taken as a whole, was the finest on exhibition; the fruit from California being a little 
too dark, caused by too much sunshine and heat, v/hile the fruit from Eastern States was lacking in color. A certain degree of 
cold in winter is also necessary for the production of fine flavored fruit, such as apples and peaches, {n) 

JOSEPH LANNIN, 



Sunnyside. Wash.. June 23rd, 1901. 
R. H. Denny, Esq., Seattle, Wash. 

Dear Sir; Yours of the 20th, asking if 1 wish to make any modifications in a letter printed in a circular issued by the 
Northern Pacific Railway Company. September 17, 1897, received. No, sir. But 1 can say truly; 1 am more in love with the 
Sunnyside District than I was six years ago. It is all, and more than 1 expected it to be, for the production of all kinds of fruit 



Note. — Washington apples took the gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and the gold medal at the Pan-American in 1901. 



%^ 



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-^»^.^^.>,.„. - 



Plate 25 



Alfalfa Field, Under Sunnyside Canal 



and vegetables. From two cherry trees planted four years ago, I sold this month $4.00 worth of fruit, besides enough for our 
family. This is simply a sample of what fruit will do in the Suncyside valley. I know of no place in our whole country where 
there are so many inducements for a man with limited means, as this valley. Yours respectfully, 

JOSEPH LANNIN. 

Gpgv/ 31 CaF'^ of Fpciit 

eAr\d Made f 9,00Q profit from 70 s>^cfes in ©ne "^ear 

F. E. THOMPSON TESTIFIES TO WHAT HE PRODUCED FROM AN IRRIGATED ORCHARD IN YAKIMA COUNTY. — HE CONSIDERS 

THAT THE GARDEN SPOT OF THE EARTH 

Toppenish, Wash., December 7, 1901. 
Dear Sirs : 

I came from Tacoma in 1883 and purchased my present farm of 160 acres. My farm consists of 75 acres of 
orchard. 24 acres of hops, balance in alfalfa and farming land. It produced in the year 1901 thirty-one cars of fruit in round 
numbers, as follows : 5300 boxes Bartlett pears. 5400 crates plums and prunes, 2600 boxes apples, 7000 boxes peaches, 500 
boxes cherries, 55,000 pounds dried prunes. 39,000 pounds hops, 1100 sacks potatoes and 120 tons of hay. My average net 
profits for the past four years have been $5000 per annum, while this season it has reached $9000. I might add as a side issue, 
I have bought and sh'pped from various farms of this valley 22,600 boxes of apples grown upon an aggregate of 44 acres, which 
have been sold f. o. b. cars at shipping station, at prices ranging from $1.10 to $1.50 per box. 

The cost of raising hops is 7 cents per pound. I have a four year contract with New York dealers for 1 '. cents per pound, 
which leaves a net profit from 24 acres of hops of over $1500 per year. 

Potatoes are worth m our home market $21 per ton and alfalfa hay $4 per ton in stack. Yours very truly, 

F. E. THOMPSON. 

Letter of F. E. Thompson, published in the Spokesman Revie-.v, Docs".ber, 1901. Mr. Thompson's farm is unaer the 
Sunnyside canal. 



rC 




- '''■i' . .^ 



SuNNYSiDE Shee? Ready for the Market 



J[ pr^oFitakle ^p[®le Opd^apd 



Zillah, Wash., December 25, 1901. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen : In 1889 I left Toronto, Canada, for Tacoma, Washington, where 1 lived several years following the 
business of contractor and builder. While in Tacoma I first heard of the Sunnyside valley and became impressed with its value 
as an agricultural district, especially after seeing the products of the Sunnyside country exhibited at a fair held in the Exposition 
Building, Tacoma. A number of my friends finally advised me to go to the Sunnyside valley, and in 1894, after an examination 
upon the ground, I purchased 30 acres of raw land about three miles from Zillah, paying for the same at the rate of $70.00 per 
acre. 1 was not an experienced farmer, nor had I ever had any previous experience in irrigation fanning: but after due 
consideration, decided to set out an orchard, principally of winter apples, together with 10 acres of Italian prunes. I soon learned 
how to handle the land and the water, and 1 desire to say right here from my observation, that the best irrigators we have in the 
valley, are those who came here without any previous knowledge of irrigation. 

A portion of my apple orchard came in'o bearing at the age of 3 years from the time of planting, and from two and 
one-fourth acres I obtained 300 boxes of marketable apples; at the age of 4 years from the same acreage, 800 boxes; at the age 
of 5 years, 1300 boxes; and this year my apple trees were 7 years of age, and from two and one-half acres of Ben Davis trees 1 
gathered 2500 boxes of choice apples, receiving an average of $1 00 per box for same. This is the first year my trees have been 
in full bearing. From 45 summer apple trees of the same age, I sold 430 boxes of apples at 75 cents per box; and from 10 acres 
of 7 year old Italian prunes trees I secure a yield of lO.OCO crates, for which I received 45 cents per crate, f. o. b. cars. 

A year ago I purchased 40 acres of land additional, on which 1 have 14 acres of hops and the remainder in alfalfa. I 
intend to set out 12 acres of this land, however, in win'er apples, as they are one of our most profitable crops. My hops averaged 
this year about 1700 pounds to the acre, but with better care and cultivation I expect to increase this yield up to 2000 pounds per 
acre another year. 

1 have always found a good market for all my produce, never having had any trouble to sell. The demand always 
exceeds the supply, and the buyer seeks the farmer. We ship our products east and west. 

I have never regretted locating here, but on the other hand am very thankful that I have done so. Our climate is 
unusually healthful; our winters are short ana mild, and 1 prefer living here to any other place that I have known. 

Yours truly. 



^7 




Plate 27 



Stacking Alfalfa. Farm of Capt. Dunn, Parker Bottom 



Valley V\eU Fapm 

Sunnyside, Wash., February 1, 1902. 



Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen : Complying with your request for a condensed statement of my success at dairying, will say, that in 1897 
I started j/ith five purchased cows, common stock, which herd has since been increased by purchasmg and raising to 22 head cf 
cows, 15 young stock and 1 bull. This, together with 5 horses and a variable number of hogs— anywhere from 5 to 20 — are kept 
by hay cut from 17 acres, 15 acres of which is alfalfa and 2 of red clover. 1 do not pasture at all, but feed cured hay solely, 
cutting my alfalfa four times and clover three times. 

As to results, during the year 1931 I averaged milking 15 cows. Cream was sold for a part of the year, but I made 
butter for the market a larger proportion of the time. After deducting cost of mill feed fed these 15 cows, I realized a net revenue 
of $10.32 per ton for the hay fed them. Estimating the yield at 8 tons per acre, I actually received a net revenue of $82.56 per 
acre. Excepting a daily ration of 8 pounds of mill feed, which is cheap and easily obtained, and used only when cows are in full 
flow of milk, my cows have had absolutely nothing but hay raised on my place. Besides the cream and butter, there was 
skimmed milk for pigs and calves, claimed to have a feeding valued of from 20 cents to 25 cents per cwt , added to which should 
be a calf from each cow. etc. 

Cost of conducting dairying in this climate is light as compared with colder climates in the East. All hay is stacked 
out of doors, handy for feeding. Costly barns are unnecessary, and out stock requires but little shelter. 

In my capacity as Local Government Weather Observer at Sunnyside, 1 furnish below a concise statement of the weather 
conditions for the past year, which may be of interest : 

Coldest month, January, with a mean temperature of 31 degrees. 

Warmest month, August, with a mean temperature of 73 degrees. 

Lowest temperature, 6 above, January 11. 

Highest temperature, 100, August 15. 

Total rainfall for the year, 6.4 inches. 

Total snowfall, 10', inches, which melted is included in above rainfall. 

Number of hours wind, 960: an average of one day of wind in 9. 

Month having most wind, April, 138 hours; next. February and June, each 127 hours. 

There were 197 clear days, 77 partly cloudy and 91 cloudy days. 

Yours respectfully. 




■i-9 




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Plati; 2S 



Alfalfa Field. Farm of Capt. Dunn. Parker Bottom 



Sunnyside, Wash., December 25, 1901. 



Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen : Allow me to give you a few figures as to business matters in the town of Sunnyside, which may be of 
interest in showing the progress ci the country during the past year : 

Sales of stamps last quarter of 1900, 
Same period 1901, - _ - _ . 
Sales of stamps month of January, 1901, 
Sales of stamps month of January, 1902, 
Money order business January, 1901, 
Money order business January, 1902, - 

Our population has doubled in one year, and is now over 300 in the townsite. In its limits are 1 bank, 1 1 stores, 3 
hotels, 1 newspaper, 2 blacksmith shops, 2 livery barns, 3 churches and a large and growing school. In the school district are 
enrolled 186 children, with an average attendance of about 170. The school is presided over by three teachers. 



$241.45 


355.21 


80.59 


168.07 


155.00 


318.00 


In its limits 



Yours truly. 



^y^^^^i^^ 



Postmaster. 



Mr. Bruce Wees, the Chicago buyer lor M. Baker &. Co., who bought 29 carloads of apples in the Sunnyside district, 
Yakima County, paying as high as $1.45 a box, in an interview published in the Yakima Republic on November 15, 1901, said: 
"1 came to the Yakima valley this year almost by accident. I had never heard of it. Senator Heinfeldt, of Idaho, told me that 
northern Idaho could furnish the apples I wanted. I went there but bought nothing, because that section does not produce the 
kind of apples I was looking for. They recommended that I go to Hood River: I went there but found nothing. At Hood River 
I heard of Yakima for the first time. * * * I have visited every apple-growing district in the United States and have never 
bought a better quality of fruit, or found a district where the product was more uniformly good. » * * I can state 
unreservedly that the Yakima valley is one of the best apple countries in the world. It is not equaled by any other section in the 
west, and such choice varieties as the Grime's Golden, Jonathan and Spitzenberg are simply incomparable as grown here. The 
eastern orchards cannot begin to produce such fruit." 



^f 




Plate 29 



Hop Field Near Sunnyside, June 9th. Farm of Mr. Wallace 



P^tLiPo^ Fop One yeap ot2 Evlenty Clepe^ 

Zillah, Wash., February 1, 1902. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen : Coming to the Sunnyside country in 1899 I leased the place of W. J. Jordan, located about one mile east 
of Zillah, the owner being the Northern Pacific agent at Lewiston, Idaho, who was unable to personally look after his ranch. 

The place consists of 20 acres, — 6' acres being in alfalfa, which has yielded annually from 35 to 40 tons of hay, and 
13' acres in fruit, principally fall and winter apples, peaches, prunes, pears, the apples being of the following varieties: Spitzen- 
burg, Ben Davis, Winesap, Rhode Island Greening. 

The years 1899 and 1900 produced a fruit crop of an average value of about $1800 00 net. The 1901 fruit crop was a 
heavy one for young trees, but not heavier than seems to be ths usual thi ig throughout the Sunnyside valley. Two hundred of 
the apple trees produced 2950 boxes of marketable apples. 
The results for the past year were as follows : 

Cash sales to eastern and local buyers, - . - . $4,753.00 

Cash sales of consignments, ------- 520.00 

Add value of 200 boxes of apples still on hand, - - - 150.00 

Add value of 35 tons of hay still on hand, . - - - 140.00 

Total receipts, ---_._- $5,563.00 
I think so well of the country, climate, people, produce and markets that 1 have just purchased a place of my own of 160 
acres under the Sunnyside canal, and expect to remain the rest of my life in "God's country." 

Yours very truly. 




30 




Full Grown Hops, Sunnyside. Farm of D. A. McDonald 



^ yeap'^ ppo^pe^^ 



The past year has been one of unusual activity in the Sunnyside country. More lands have been sold; more actual 
settlers have come, and more material advancement made than during any three previous years of the country's history. 
Nothing in the nature of a boom has existed, but the tendency has been toward substantial and permanent improvement. 
A goodly number of large and well designed modern country houses, besides numerous smaller unpretentious houses have been 
built or are under way. On the first of March more than fifty new buildings could be counted from one spot near the town of 
Sunnyside, and many more have been put up since. As an indication of the rate of growth it may be said that the records at the 
postoffices of Zillah and Sunnyside show that the number of people who get mail at theje places has more than doubled in the 
past year. The enterprise and public spirit shown by the people is encouraging, and the Irrigation Company, in order to keep 
pace with the general progress of the country, has made, and has under way, a number of desirable and permanent improvements 
in its property, among which may be mentioned a new and substantial dam across the Yakima River at the intake (built of steel 
upon a concrete foundation), for the purpose of diverting water from the river into the canal ; together with a neat stone house of 
modern design at the headgate ; two new waste ways and structures on the main canal, one at Zillah and the other at Black Rock 
Canyon, that will materially aid in the safe operation of the canal; about 35 miles of branch canals and laterals added to the 
distributory system ; over 200,000 feet of lumber in new structures, besides many other smaller and less important improvements, 
made necessary by the rapid development of the country and to accommodate the increased demand for water by new settlers. 

Marked progress has been made in the dairy and livestock industries, both of which are so well adapted to the Sunnyside 
country. Our farmers have discovered that more money can be realized from their hsy by feeding than by selling in the stack — 
in the one case bringing from $10.00 to $15 00 per ton, and in the other from $3.50 to $5.00 per ton. Several hundred head of 
high grade milch cows have been shipped in, and agents are now in the East buying good milch stock in carload lots to fill the 
orders of the Sunnyside farmers. The dairy industry promises to reach large proportions in the near future. What is true of 
that industry holds good as to livestock in general. Large numbers of high grade beef cattle — Short Horns and Herefords — 
pure bred swine, mutton and wool sheep, besides fancy poultry, have been brought in during the pist year. Mention should also 
be made of a number of fine stallions, both for road and draught purposes, especially the handsome Percheron stallions brought 



3/ 




I'LATE 31 



Picking Hops. Farm of F. B. Shardlow 



from Illinois by T. C. Williams, proprietor of the Sunnyside Hotel ; and it is evident that the Sunnyside country is destined to 
become famous for the production of all kinds of high grade livestock. 

Our school houses, which have always been the pride of the Sunnyside district, and which had become inadequate for 
the increased number of pupils, were supplemented, during the year, by three new buillings, all commodious, modern in design, 
and in keeping with the older houses. Others will be required in the near future, and will, doubtless, be built, as soon as demanded. 

The enterprise and morality of the district is apparent in the churches already organized. Six large buildings have been 
completed. These are described as follows: A Presbyterian Church in Parker Bottom; a Christian Church in Zillah, a neat 
frame building, dedicated on June 2d last; an Episcopal Church in Zillah, of soft gray sandstone, which would be a credit to any 
community; an Episcopal Church in Sunnyside, a frame building, completed July 1st; a German Baptist Church in Sunnyside, 
and a Federated Church in Sunnyside, a frame building, just completed, that is the largest and of the most modern design of any 
in the county, and deserves more than passing mention. The organization represents the most advanced ideas in church union, 
and is composed of five different church societies, as follows: Baptist. Methodist, Congregational. Presbyterian and Progressive 
Dunkards, each havmg an independent organization and interest In the building. 

The Sunnyside Townsite Company has shown a commendable spirit in seeding all of the vacant lots, and covering the 
streets with sagebrush, which makes a fine roadbed when crushed into the soil by travel. The building of sagebrush roads has 
been carried on, in a limited way, all over the country, but not to the extent it should be. 

In conclusion, the rapid growth of the Sunnyside country by the addition of nearly five hundred new families, and 
several thousand acres of new hay and orchard lands, to the cultivated area, has been a surprise to even the most enthusiastic 
supporters, and judging from present indications, it is safe to say that the progress of the past year will be fully equalled, if not 
exceeded during the coming year. WALTER N. GRANGER, 

Zillah, Wash., February 12, 1902. General Superintendent. 



J2- 




Plate 32 



Irrigated Potatoes Grown Near North Yakima, but not Under the Sunnyside Ditch 



Sunnyside, Wash., February 1, 1902. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen: Four things led me to leave Carroll County, Illinois, the very garden of the Mississippi Valley, for 
Sunnyside, Washington : 

1. The Climate : Here we are immune from cyclones, snow blizzards and extremes of heat and cold, from conditions 
breeding diptheria, scarlet fever, rheumatism, la grippe, catarrh, asthma and consumption. We can plant, grow and harvest our 
crops without interference from the weather. 

2. The Fruit : Te best fruit in the world grows here, — apples, peaches, pears, prunes, plums and all kinds of berries. 
Only when you live where fruits grow do you get the best. No one can be so poor here as not to get the finest fruit grown in 
the world. 

3. The Opportunities for Gain : Here investments in realty pay ten to thirty per cent with more certainty than they 
do three to eight in the older states. On this basis there must be great enhancement in value. 

4. Society : At Sunnyside we have the largest percentage of good moral people that 1 have ever found anywhere. 
There is not now a single saloon under the great Irrigating canal. The managers of the canal are with the people on this question. 
The vacant lots of Sunnyside are in the hands of Christian men who prohibit forever in their deeds gambling, prostitution and the 
manufacture or sale of intoxicants. 

I arrived at Mabton, the nearest R. R. station to Sunnyside, March 8, 1899, with car of emigrant goods. 1 had con- 
tracted for 40 acres of raw land the previous July. The first year 1 built an 8 room house, a shed barn 28 by 84, graded and 
seeded 1 15 acres of land. It was my first experience in work of the kind. I was more or less nervous at first, bat was so well 
pleased at the end of the season with the prospect that 1 urged my brother and parents who lived in Linn County, Iowa, to come 
at once and select homes, agreeing to take all they purchased off their hands at its cost to them after two years if they wished to 
return to Iowa. The two years are up and they are as well pleased as I am. Before the close of the first year I purchased 80 
acres more; before the close of the second year 195 acres more and this year 90 acres more, all of which I have cleared, graded 
and seeded. 

I am engaged in general farming. My wife runs the pouhry and garden and has great success with each. I have three 
fields fenced hog tight. One acre of alfalfa, if pastured, will grow 10 hogs or 20 sheep, or maintain in best condition 3 head of 
cattle or horses from May 1, to Nov. 1. If the gras3is cutit will do about one half more. On 140 acres of my land I maintain 
the year round over 100 head of cattle and horses and 100 head of three year old steers for Seattle butchers for which I receive 



l^ 




Plate 33 Crating Fruit 

Home of S. J. Harrison. Sunnyside 



SCHOOLHOUSE, Parker Bottom 
Vineyard 



6 cents per pound for the weight I put on the cattle. I do this in preference to selling my hay at $3.50 per ton in the stack. No 
shelter is required for the hay or for the horses or cattle. The ground is so porous that it always furnishes a clean dry bed for 
the stock. 

Yours very truly, 







Extract from an article on the Sunnyside section written by Almond C. Auldon, of Zillah, Washington. November, 1901 . 

"As actual figures tell the story more eloquently than general descriptions in illustrating the capabilities of the soil, the 
following cases will be cited. In the production of small fruits generally, such as raspberries, blackberries and strawberries very 
little data is at hand. But they can all be depended upon to give a good account of themselves, with proper care. This year Mr. 
I. N. McCart, living one half mile east of Zillah, sold $140.00 worth of strawberries from a half acre of measured ground. While 
this would not be considered a remarkable yield by an experienced strawberry grower, it should be borne in mind that these plants 
were set in the summer of 19C0, between the rows of a young apple orchard, and on ground that bore a crop of beans the same 
season. The soil had never been manured, and the plants received no special care. 

The man who wants either a home orchard or a commercial one on an extensive scale can find here a combination of 
climate and soil conditions that produces the most perfect results, while orchardists in the older apple-growing states are accus- 
tomed to wait 8, 9 and 10 years to see whether their varieties are going to come true to name, here the apple grower begins to reap 
the fruits of his labor in four or five years. Mr. 1. N. McCart near Zillah, this year had a four year old orchard with some of the 
limbs on the apple trees so heavily laden that they bent to the ground. Mr. M. Mahan, one and one-half miles east of Zillah, 
had trees of the Rome Beauty variety set two years ago (then yearlings) that bore from t j/elve to fifteen apples this season. Mr. 
Walter N. Granger, on his farm just east of Zillah, has an orchard that was set out in the spring of 1900 (yearling trees) and some 
of these trees bore a few apples this year, of course it is neithar expected nor desirable that trees begin producing crops at such an 
age. These cases — which are not isolated ones —are cited for the purpose of showing what a wonderful combination this soil and 
climate and a good irrigation ditch makes. It is a promise of what the future holds in store. Results from orchards that have 
come into bearing are equally remarkable. The Jordan orchard, one mile east of Zillah, has only been planted nine years, and 
this year a block of Ben Davis, a fraction less than two acres, turned off 2950 boxes of apples. Mr. J. S. Williams, who has 
charge of the orchard, is packing the apples at this writing, and estimates the yield at 2500 boxes of marketable apples. Messrs. 



3r 




View One. Landscape, Below Zillah, Showing Home of M. E. Kane 



F. Waldon & Son, three and a quarter miles northeast of Zillah, have a 40 acre apple orchard that is eight years old. It com- 
prises upward of 40 varieties, and it will be understood that in such a vast number of varieties there are many which will neces- 
sarily cut the average yield far below what it otherwise might be. Yet they have shipped 3000 boxes that netted them one dollar 
a box, and still have in storage 8000 boxes. From forty trees of Rome Beauty, six years old, they picked 260 boxes. From a 
six acre peach orchard, ten years old, they sold $1450.00 worth of fruit. 

Mr. R. D. Herod, living three miles northwest of Zillah, has a block of Ben Davis consisting of 210 trees from which he 
this year picked 2000 boxes of apples. This orchard was planted in 1894. Last year it produced 1300 boxes, and in 1899, 800 
boxes. It bore 300 boxes when four years old. Mr. Herod has eleven acres of Italian prunes which he regards as one of his best 
money-makers. This year these will net him $3000.00. Last year he cleared $700.00 from them: and the year before $2000.00. So 
they show a net return of $5700.00 in three years. 

The above figures are not the result of hearsay, but were obtained direct from the parties. Similar examples might be 
given to fill page after page. It would simply be a repetition of the same thing." 



jLinoy^ide ei^Lipcl^®') 



Sunnyside, Wash., February 1. 1902. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen : 1 think we are open to congratulations upon the completeness of our social development in this vicinity. 
The lack of harmful influence amongst our youths and daughters, and the assurance that these conditions are likely to continue. 

At this wrtting in the town of Sunnyside are three churches, the Federated Church, comprising the interests of the 
Baptist, Brethren (Progressive Dunkards), Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Christians; the Episcopalians and 
Conservative Dunkards. 

The Federated Church includes in its activities, a Christian Endeavor Society, Sunday School and Ladies' Aid. Con- 
nected with the Episcopal Church there is a Women's Guild which finds considerable scope for its work; and the Conservative 
Dunkards maintain a flourishing Sunday School. 

We have no saloons, and drunkenness is unknown. Many of our best young men are interested in the Sunnyside Cornet 
Band, which includes 18 pieces. 



Yours truly, A 






^ a. 




View Two. Landscape, Below Zillah, Showing Home of M. E. Kane 



CI +]ealtl2Fal eiimate 

Washington Irrigation Co., Zillah. Zillah, Wash.. June 9. 1900. 

Gentlemen ; In answer to your question whether the Sunnyside is a healthful section, 1 beg leave to state that I am a 
graduate of the Kentucky School of Medicine, and for the last seven years have followed my profession in Zillah and vicinity. 

My primary object in coming to this section was to get relief from asthma, which for years had given me serious trouble 
and inconvenience. Within a few weeks after my arrival I felt greatly relieved, and within one year all traces of the disease had 
left me, and 1 am now, and ever since, have been absolutely free from it. 

As the best proof that the Sunnyside district is healthful. 1 will say that I have been the only physician that has practiced 
at this place, and 1 have attended to the medical needs of nearly three thousand people. In other localities, every one thousand 
person:; seem to need the services of one doctor. The reason, in my judgment, that there is so very little sickness in this section, 
is that the prevailing wind is from the west: there is scarcely a day that there is not a breeze stirring, and the air, moving from 
the mountains, and spreading out over the plain, is perfectly pure. While there are some hot days, the heat is of short duration, 
lasting from 10 A. M until 4 p. m., and the nights are always cool. The climate being dry (the annual rainfall being in the neigh- 
borhood of eight inches), rheumatic, throat and lung troubles are hardly known. Of late it has been reported that there have been 
cases of scarletina in the lower country: but my experience is that persons thought to have scarletina, have only German measles, 
as no deaths result. As to pneumonia, 1 have had but two cases, and there have never been any other cases reported that I know 
of; and the country is absolutely free from smallpox. Now and then people are sick with chills and fever. This is the result of 
the land being newly broken, and water placed over it for irrigation purposes, and allowed to stand in low places. This can be 
remedied by proper drainage of the waste water. This sickness is, however, of a mild form, and a doctor's services are scarcely 
ever required. 

1 like the climate, the people and the soil, and without doubt will sp;nd the remainder of my days at this place. 

Very truly, Dr. A. McCrackan. 




Plate 3G 



SUNNYSIDE SCHOOLHOUSE AND CHILDREN 



Sunnyside, Wash., June 3, 1901. 
Washington Irrigation Co., Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen: You have asked me for a letter concerning the Sunnyside. Willingly 1 accede to your wishes. To start 
with, let me state that I am an enthusiast. I believe there is no other section with the same prospects as this. What impels me 
to spealc so favorably of this country is. that one with so little can do so much. Here, where a few years ago, there was nothing 
but sagebrush and jacl^ rabbits, we have now beautiful farms and orchards. There are no paupers, but all are profitably employed. 
At the present there is more work than there are people to do it. There is work for every member of the family, from the six- 
year-old to the grandfather. Children are profitable m this country. They are first employed in the picking of strawberries, then 
the other numerous small fruits, including cherries, followed by apricots, peaches, pears, prunes, plums, apples, etc. Finally 
comes the jolly time of gathering hops. Whole families have been so profitably employed in this line of work that they have 
been able to more than live off of their earnmgs. 

As to inigation. boys and old men can keep the water running over large fields, and the soil is so easily cultivated that 
a mere boy can hold a plow. 

All sorts of labor in this country is held honorable. A woman if she wishes to, can farm or sell town lots. As for 
myself, in the last year 1 have sold a number of town lots in Sunnyside and a few tracts of land. 

While the Sunnyside has made wonderful progress in material development, the social side has not lagged. At Sunny- 
side we expect to have a reading room for the old and young; we have a guild, a Christian Endeavor Society, and literary 
societies. We meet and have public entertainments, in which all join. 

I have lived here for six years, and during the whole of that period there has been no law breaking scarcely worthy of 
mention; neither has there been any social scandals. We have an excellent school and are soon to have a fine Episcopal church, 
ani the Dunkard colony and Federated Society have commodious houses of worship. 

As I ride about the country and observe the large farm houses and broad fields, so nicely leveled for irrigation, and 
bearing heavy growths of timothy clover and alfalfa, the orchards, with their perfect rows of trees; horses, cattle, pigs and sheep, 
and not a poor one among them; long lines of highway well fenced, and farmers everywhere at work, 1 can scarcely realize that 
the canvass of this scene six years ago was a sagebrush waste. 1 am so glad 1 am an enthusiast, for I feel that my enthusiasm 
has located a number in the Sunnyside section, who today are the possessors of fine homes, and are happy in the owner- 
ship of them; and I shall certainly do all in my power to bring the less fortunate of the east and other localities and have them 
settle here. 

I might speak of the growing of different kinds of fruits, hay, cereals, poultry, stock and of dairying. They are all 
profitably followed. Should I state what wonderful things I have seen and of the things 1 have heard and re-heard concerning 
the productiveness of our farms in the growth of all sorts of produce, 1 am satisfied that what 1 should say would not be believed; 
for a great majority of the people cannot appreciate how much more productive land is when watered by means of irrigation, 
than when watered by the rainfall. Yours truly, 

MARGARET J. CLINE. 



37 







SuNNYsiDE Churches 



Zillah, Washington, February 7, 1902. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen: Ten years ago last August, 1 bought 80 acres of land under the Sunnyside canal. I paid $25.00 per acre, 
for the land with the water right. My purpose was to go into the fruit growing business. Accordingly I set out 1200 peach 
trees in the Spring of 1892. I put my sons on the land and furnished the capital to start a small nursery. We raised our own 
trees, except the peach trees mentioned above. I have now 3000 apple trees some pears, cherries, plums, prunes and apricots 
in all about 5000 trees. 1 would not take $200.00 per acre for the land now, for the amount, $16,000.00, at ten per cent would 
not pay as much as the farm. 

Some years are more profitable than others but the average is high. The past year was one of the most favorable in the 
history of the valley. If I knew I could have such a year once in five years, and make only expenses the other four years, 1 
should consider the fruit business a profitable one; but I know from experience that I can do far better than that. 

My peach crop was light the past season, but the apple crop, heavy. I keep an accurate account of all receipts for 
fruit sold, and find that 1 received in cash, so far this year, $5070.73, 1 have two cars of apples sent out and not yet reported on, 
that will bring at the least, $1000.00: then I have about 7000 boxes of apples on hand that will bring me about $8000,00. The 
total receipts will be about $14,000.00. All expenses can be paid with $4000 00, leaving me net $10,000.00. My fruit ranch is 
not for sale at any price. Yours respectfully. 



3 ' 




Ranch of J. F. Crittenden 



pavii^f Fop a Papm \n One yeap 

Zillah, Washington, December 25, 1901. 



Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen: I celebrated Washington's birthday. 1901, by going to the Sunnyside country and buying the Charles 
Roberts place of 20 acres in section 5-10-21. I had been living in Nebraska previous lo my coming here, where I had been 
fairly successful, although the health of our eight children had never been good. My old neighbors thought I was making a 
mistake in going so far away from home, but the information I had received concerning the Sunnyside country was so favorable 
that I concluded to risk all and go there. 

I have been living here almost a year, and it may interest yon to learn what the first year has brought us. Our place is 
one of 20 acres, for which I paid $2100.00 cash. There are about 9 acres in orchard, 8 acres in alfalfa, and last year I had 2 
acres in potatoes and garden truck, and about 1 acre unimproved. In the orchard, which is mainly winter apples, are 315 Ben 
Davis trees, 60 Missouri Pippins, 65 Willow Twig, 68 Jonathan, 19 Winesap and 23 mixed trees, seven years old last Spring. 

What the place produced before I purchased it, I cannot say but am told that in 1900, 105 trees of Ben Davis apples 
orodi'ced a net result of $560.00; the alfalfa produced nearly 90 tons. 

This year's result has convinced me 1 have come to the right place. Fully 60 apple trees were unproductive, but from 
the lomainder 1 have sold apples as follows: 

One car, netting . - - 

One car, " . . _ _ 

One car, " 

Sales to Chicago buyer, netting, 
Small cash sales, - - - 

Total. ------ $3,291.40 

for apples alone: besides having 600 boxes of choice apples in the cellar that are now worth $1.50 per box. The total yield of 
apples was upwards of 4400 boxes, not including culls, — although of the latter we did not have to exceed 50 boxes. 

The figures quoted are the amounts of actual cash received for the apples, — the only offsets against these receipts 
being the usual expenses of picking, packing and hauling. My total outlay on the farm last year will hardly pass $700.00. 

In addition to our apples we had a large yield of alfalfa hay, besides potatoes and garden truck: and I must not forget 
to add that Mrs. Hardell has taken in from the produce of her four cows and chickens about $200.00, in cash. 

As to health we have never, including the twins, enjoyed such good health as since our arrival here. We have a good 
school about a quarter of a mile away, which, on account of the large number of new people coming in, has been doubled in 
size, and which our children attend, — not including the twins. Yours truly. 



$ 617.95; 


586.90; 


502.25: 


1,431.50; 


152.80; 



d/^^anr^^£, ^^ 




Plate 39 



Yakima River in Front of Zillah 



J)ivep^iFie6l FapmltQ^ ppoFihalt)le 

Zillah, Washington, December 25, 1901. 
Washington Irrigation Company, Zillah, Wash. 

Gentlemen: I am the owner of 40 acres of land in the Sunnyside district about two miles southeast of Zillah. 1 have 
on this land 10 acres of winter apples, 3 acres of potatoes, 1 acre of grapes, and the balance in clover and timothy, and alfalfa, 
with the exception of 2 acres reserved for garden and other purposes. 

This year 1 sold $2500.00 worth of apples, $600.00 worth of peaches, and over $400.00 worth of potatoes. My hay is 
still unsold, and 1 have about 100 tons, worth at least $4.00 per ton in the stack; besides 1 have sold $150.00 worth of eggs, 
having raised the feed on my ranch. My place has netted me this year, above all expenses and cost of living, $3000.00. 

1 came here from Wayne county, Nebraska, one of the best farming districts in the United States; but I want to say 
this is a better country and the best I have ever lived in. 

I believe the Sunnyside is in its infancy insofar as its possibilities are concerned. The methods of farming are still in 
an experimental stage and are crude in comparison with what they will be within the next five or ten years. 

It is a fact that I raised over 15 tons of potatoes to the acre this year, and 1 firmly believe that by plowing under clover, 
I can increase the yield to from 20 to 25 tons per acre. I received $20.00 per ton for my potatoes, sacks thrown in. Potatoes 
are always a good crop and of superior quality, thereby commanding a ready sale in the Sound markets where they have an 
established reputation. The price this year, however, was above the average which is from $8.00 to $12.00 per ton. 

Very respectfully, 



c_^ ^^<^^z^.-^^'^■^t^^^>^^-.^'-^^^ 



L^O 



Announcement 

Owing to the unprecedented sale of land by the Washington Irrigation Company it has become nec- 
essary to extend the main canal from the 42nd mile post to opposite the town of Prosser, a distance of 14 
miles. This extension will bring into the market the finest tract of irrigated land in the State of Washington 
The lay of the land from the line of definite location of the proposed extension to the Yakima river is one of 
remarkable beauty. There are no gulches or deep ravines. In the main the country has a gradual slope with 
just enough undulation to please and charm the eye of an artist. Here is an opportunity for the model farmer 
He can lay his irrigated lands out in a most perfect manner. The dense growth of sage brush shows the land 
to be of remarkable fertility. This is without question excellent land for the production of fruit. It lies near the 
town of Prosser and close to the railroad, The town of Prosser is a live place and the Prosser Falls at this 
point ,n the Yakima river are capable of generating 2500 horse power, part of which is already used in pumping 
water, driving a flour mill and generating electricity for lighting the town. 

Parties wishing to inspect lands in this locality will be shown the same by the agent of the Washington 
Irrigation Company at Prosser. 




4'^ 



THK NORTHF.RN PACIFIC RAILWAY 



Sf§- 



J. M. HANNAFORD 



e-President. Nt. t .im 

C VV. MOTT. ' 



-t, .Sh 



leeners. C'l- 



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